Traumatised.....need repair advice

[red]

Hi, I'm feeling rather lost and confused, and would like to get some advice from the experienced kind souls here. Ok I'll start by explaining a little bit about my background.

 

Firstly I was not balding in any sense, but my hairline was just naturally high (a little too high, and both the sides were slightly angled up so it appeared receding too). My mistake was approaching a wrong doctor (or butcher). I didn't know anything at that time so I actually went back 4 times (at his recommendation)!! The thing was, he didn't implant my grafts at a proper angle. I later found out implanting too perpendicular from the scalp (esp. at the front & hairline) would create a ??see-through' look cos the hair from the root is visible when looking straight on. I don't know if I can explain this clearly but here goes: implants angled too perpendicularly creates unnatural distinction between the scalp and the root. Natural hair rests at an acute angle at the front, so when looking at a person with full head of hair you don't really see the roots. Even when styled upwards, the hair bends up and what you see is the convex shaft of the root. So in natural hair the distinction between the root of the hair and the scalp blends softly.

 

Anyway, I went back to him because the hairline was lowered density & increased but I just felt there was ??see through' effect (the scalp was quite visible through the hair) and couldn't figure out why. It was too late by the time I understood (by then I had already gone to him 4 times). I then spent the next 3 procedures with reputable Drs trying to remedy what was done. The implanted grafts between the spaces of the existing grafts, but at correct angles. This was done in the hope of camouflaging the ??see-through' effect.

Now, the hairline and ??see-through' effect is softened, but I can still see unnatural distinction between root and scalp. Guess there were just too many grafts placed perpendicularly to totally solve it. My hair now is very un-stylable. I'm afraid of my HT being outed all the time, and I'm a pale shadow of my former self. How I wish I never met the butcher! I have recently used Dermmatch to blend the scalp and root effect and it helps, but I'm looking for a more permanent solution. I've heard that for repair alternatives, surgeons will implant new grafts correctly about 1 inch below the current hairline and this will conceal the old problem. However, I feel that my hairline is already low enough, and I do not wish to touch my donor area anymore (besides there are already wide scars there from the previous surgeries). I'm here to get advice and maybe find out solutions I do not know about (as I'm not very up-to-date about the latest techniques in HT). Also, I hope to get some advice about scar repair for my donor area. I think the scars stretched cos the multiple procedures reduced laxity. Are there such things as permanent sutures and are they good?

 

I guess until a solution is found, I'll just have to wait for hair cloning cos then donor supply would not be a problem already. Sorry for such a long post, but I just needed someone I could turn to for advice and help. Many thanks!

 

Cheers.

[red]

Hi, I'm feeling rather lost and confused, and would like to get some advice from the experienced kind souls here. Ok I'll start by explaining a little bit about my background.

 

Firstly I was not balding in any sense, but my hairline was just naturally high (a little too high, and both the sides were slightly angled up so it appeared receding too). My mistake was approaching a wrong doctor (or butcher). I didn't know anything at that time so I actually went back 4 times (at his recommendation)!! The thing was, he didn't implant my grafts at a proper angle. I later found out implanting too perpendicular from the scalp (esp. at the front & hairline) would create a ??see-through' look cos the hair from the root is visible when looking straight on. I don't know if I can explain this clearly but here goes: implants angled too perpendicularly creates unnatural distinction between the scalp and the root. Natural hair rests at an acute angle at the front, so when looking at a person with full head of hair you don't really see the roots. Even when styled upwards, the hair bends up and what you see is the convex shaft of the root. So in natural hair the distinction between the root of the hair and the scalp blends softly.

 

Anyway, I went back to him because the hairline was lowered density & increased but I just felt there was ??see through' effect (the scalp was quite visible through the hair) and couldn't figure out why. It was too late by the time I understood (by then I had already gone to him 4 times). I then spent the next 3 procedures with reputable Drs trying to remedy what was done. The implanted grafts between the spaces of the existing grafts, but at correct angles. This was done in the hope of camouflaging the ??see-through' effect.

Now, the hairline and ??see-through' effect is softened, but I can still see unnatural distinction between root and scalp. Guess there were just too many grafts placed perpendicularly to totally solve it. My hair now is very un-stylable. I'm afraid of my HT being outed all the time, and I'm a pale shadow of my former self. How I wish I never met the butcher! I have recently used Dermmatch to blend the scalp and root effect and it helps, but I'm looking for a more permanent solution. I've heard that for repair alternatives, surgeons will implant new grafts correctly about 1 inch below the current hairline and this will conceal the old problem. However, I feel that my hairline is already low enough, and I do not wish to touch my donor area anymore (besides there are already wide scars there from the previous surgeries). I'm here to get advice and maybe find out solutions I do not know about (as I'm not very up-to-date about the latest techniques in HT). Also, I hope to get some advice about scar repair for my donor area. I think the scars stretched cos the multiple procedures reduced laxity. Are there such things as permanent sutures and are they good?

 

I guess until a solution is found, I'll just have to wait for hair cloning cos then donor supply would not be a problem already. Sorry for such a long post, but I just needed someone I could turn to for advice and help. Many thanks!

 

Cheers.

[Guest wanthairs]

Red....

 

Many of our coalition Dr.'s do alot of repair work by removing the transplanted hair and repositioning it. My Doc, Epstein does alot fo this, with about 30% of his ppactise being devoted to repair work.......You would probably not need to have anything removed from your donor anymore.....

 

Go and see about 3 of our coalition Dr's and then you will have a better idea......

[red]

Thanks wanthairs...

However, from what I understand repositioning usually involves removing some grafts or a strip of grafts and planting it higher, in-between the grafts already there. In my case, it will involve removing the grafts and repositioning in the same areas (the 1-2 inch border at my hairline)since it's the graft placement angle that is the problem. This doesn't sound possible since removing the grafts will naturally cause fresh wounds in the process, and grafts can't be planted in such wounds viably right?

 

Can anyone enlighten me on my views and whether there's any repair suitable? Thanks all..have a great day

[NervousNelly]

Red,

 

Why don't you send a PM to the member Nobuzz. He has had experience with plug removal and thinning. He might be able to give some help in that manner.

 

 

NN

[tisab]

Im sorry to hear what has happen to you...

 

as wanthairs has already said HT doctors can pluck out the implants and replace them and even split the graft in half in some cases if they were too big and make 2 peices or something along that line.

 

one problem with that is if the previous doctor made the incisions(holes) too big and it would look awkward if your hairline had holes infront of them

 

best i would do is consult with a coalition doctor and ask for thier advice

 

possibly u are a body hair transplant candidate?

[red]

Thanks guys. Will visit this forum often & learn more about my options. Cheers..

[Bill - Seemiller]

red,

 

I received your PM and thought I would reply directly on this thread since you have directed me to it.

 

Firstly, welcome to our community.

 

Secondly, I'm sorry that you have been through a bad hair transplantation experience. Unfortunately, not all doctors perform state of the art hair transplantation.

 

Hair transplant repair works a few different ways, and from what I have learned, the method used depends on the hair restoration clinic and patient's individual situation - type of grafting (plugs, minis, positioning and angle of the grafts, etc).

 

For more information about hair transplant repair, I recommend reading the following hair loss Q&A blog: Hair Transplant Repair - How it Works.

 

I hope this helps,

 

Bill

[TooThin]

red:

 

I had disappointing work done on my hairline in 1995/96. Specifically, the hairline was too flat; it was comprised of single hair micrografts and some multi-haired mini-grafts; there were problems with the exit angles; and the density was insufficient to block the "see through effect".

 

I had a small procedure with Dr. Ron Shapiro of Shapiro Medical Group in March 2007. I believe he did about 43 punchouts in about an hour using 1mm to 2mm punches. Out of the 43 grafts, SMG trimmed them into follicular units and recycled a total of 66 hairs in the lateral hump areas. The small punch out holes created when the grafts were removed do not require stitches. They shrink up naturally. I went back to work a week later with no visible evidence of surgery. I was amazed by the noticeable improvement I gained from such a small procedure. I wish I had done the procedure years earlier because I was always self-conscious about having an unnatural hairline and used to comb my hair down to cover it up.

 

I had a full strip session six weeks later to add density to the front half of my head. Dr. Ron created a natural hairline behind the old grafts. His team then worked their way back from there planting the follicular units and "densifying" the front half of my head. Dr. Ron then punched out about another 92 grafts from the old hairline and recycled the hair. There are still about 100 more old single hair grafts at the front edge of my hairline that need to be removed to finalize everything. I plan to go back to SMG in another six months to get them removed once the yield from the strip surgery has fully grown out. In the meantime, I shave the old grafts each morning.

 

Sorry for the long reply. My main objective was to suggest that you seriously consider having the questionable grafts punched out rather than trying to camouflage them by lowering the hairline. I think a punchout procedure with a top quality repair doctor would probably give you a better result. Good luck. TooThin

[red]

Thanks Bill...will certainly check out the HT repair site

 

TooThin thanks for sharing your experience...it gives me hope However, I'd like to find out some stuff. Firstly, I've enough density in the transplanted site (ie. around the hairline) so I'm not looking to take yet another strip from the back of my head. After punching out the grafts (btw mine are all follicular units), it doesn't sound plausible to then plant it directly at the same area due to the wounds from the small punch out holes (as in planting grfts on the wound..or is it?

 

Anyway TooThin, thanks for sharing ..I will also look up Dr Shapiro's site to see if I can learn more about my options.

 

Have a great day you guys!!

[wylie]

Red, just wondering, have you spoken to any coalition doctors about repairing your previous work? I too was a victim of outdated technology and have suffered for years as a result but am hoping that a repair is possible. There are doctors you can find right here who do repair work, and I am scheduled for an apppointment myself in a few weeks (even though I have precious few donor areas left)

 

Let us know how your search has progressed, keep the faith!

[Jeffrey Epstein MD, FACS]

Sometimes even small numbers of grafts, given limited donor supply, can make a big difference when these hairs are placed strategically, and/or combined with graft removal and retransplanting techniques.

 

Sincerely,

Jeff Epstein, MD

Miami and NYC

www.foundhair.com

[MrJobi]

Yup,

 

Many times a Bad HT can be somewhat salvagable. if a doc can just soften the hairliine with the addition of grafts, the patient can benefit from the original poor work. Kind of like "filling in " the bad work

[Dr. Timothy Carman]

Red-

First of all, I am sorry to hear of your experience. Regarding your situation:

 

"Sometimes even small numbers of grafts, given limited donor supply, can make a big difference when these hairs are placed strategically, and/or combined with graft removal and retransplanting techniques."

 

I couldn't agree more with Dr. Epstein. Placed in the appropriate manner, a small number of (newly transplanted) grafts can go a long way to

improving a situation such as yours. Although we can address your situation in a general manner here, perhaps you could upload a photo or two which would be very helpful. Of course, the ideal case would be to have an evaluation in person, and I recommend physicians listed in the coalition without hesitation. Incidentally, that small number of grafts could probably be harvested as part of a scar reduction procedure- you mentioned you wanted to address that issue as well.

 

Sincerely,

Timothy Carman, MD

La Jolla, California

[red]

Hi guys..thanks for the replies.

 

Dr Epstein, thanks for the advice there! Well, as I've mentioned above. The problem is the rather upright angle of the grafts (this causes the hair to expose the scalp, causing a see through look from the front....I get that when I comb my hair back. Even when I ruffle it,

sometimes even from the top too much scalp can be seen cos the hair stands unnaturally against the others). I believe if it was transplanted correctly the density is already close to a normal person's so no issue with density. My HT's were done at my hairline, so I'm not sure that the whole 'strip' be removed and replanted back in the same area at the same session? The only thing I can think of is to place a moderate no. of HT's at correct (or even slightly more acute) angle in between the existing follicles to camouflage the see-through look. To get this grafts without extracting any more from my butchered donor zone is the issue...I guess only when hair cloning is viable then Or are there any alternatives you can suggest, Dr Epstein?

 

Dr Carman, the pics I have with me unfortunately don't show the problem. I've taken with both flash on & off but the pics look ok. Guess it's a case of looking better in pictures than in real-life haha. But I will try to take some worse looking pictures if I can to post soon..

 

Wylie, and thanks for the pm...will reply you shortly...

 

 

Ps. Word of warning to guys considering HT. Never believe what you see in the pictures. I'm living proof that a HT that's bad (I know cos I get people staring at it enough ) can actually look ok in pictures!

 

Ok then, have a great weekend all!

[Carla]

Hi, have you managed to find any Drs to repair this? I’m in the same boat

[SoSoz]

17 hours ago, Carla said:

Hi, have you managed to find any Drs to repair this? I’m in the same boat

Why did you dig a thread from 2007? 

[Carla]

47 minutes ago, SoSoz said:

Why did you dig a thread from 2007? 

Because I’m midst doing my research and there isn’t exactly that much repair threads on here in comparison to normal HT posts